No mistakes? Namaste

A teacher whom the LLL likes says that people used to say 'namaste' to her.  She thought that they were saying 'no mistake'.  The teacher thought that they were so wise!  Imagine if, when you shoot off that email and think, "I forgot to change that one detail" and realized, "wait!  That was supposed to happen!"  But why?  To remind you to check more carefully next time.  To remind you that you are human.  To remind you to take a breath. 

There are any number of reasons.  This concept is comforting during our busy days trying to get so much done and then, let's say, getting interrupted.  Suppose, for example, you were working on project A, but person B is out and needs to be covered.  No mistakes!  This is how it's supposed to be.  Or, perhaps, the phone system goes down for an hour.  No mistakes!  It's a chance to have some freedom from the ringing sound and to talk with the friendly people in tech support.

Radical, perhaps.  But comforting!

PLA, anyone?

The leaping, libertine librarian wants to go to PLA this year!  Watch her rap!

The Programming Librarian

The LLL loves programming.  When she worked as the manager of a mid sized urban branch, she programmed from morn til night.  She loved being able to bring Puccini to her public for free.  She had authors of all types including Omar Tyree, an urban fiction writer.  The library was alive with programs and art exhibits.  Every year, there was a special event and celebration in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King.  If you want to make your programming dreams come true, get inspired here.

Multi--scratch that Single Tasking

The LLL often tries to do too many things....as if you don't?  Come on!  You're not fooling me!  That pile on the desk (or in some cases, falling off of the desk.....)can only be gotten through by doing one thing at a time.  It's true!  (Unless we put it all in the circular file...just kidding).    Here's the thing....we really can't do more than one thing at a time.  That's why you should not text and drive.  Cut that out!

If you look at your Chase's Calendar, you will see that February 21st is Single-Tasking Day.  "Multitasking is ineffective-and may cause brain damage!  Today, do only one thing at a time without feeling guilty.

More from the Dull Men's Club!

Whose business is it. Anyway?

All of the Leaping Librarian's Life, there has been the nasty business of comparisons.  To wit:
"she colors better than I do."
"They don't have to go to religious school, why should I?"
"How come they have their own room and I have to share?"
Etc. etc. and on and on.
So then we get to the land of adult (a dolt?) hood.
"They don't come in on time.  Why should I?"
"That one gets.......and I don't."
"Thus and so never does the......(fill in the blank.)

The Leaping Libertine Librarian calls this "The Negative Domino Theory."  What it means is that, when one indulges in this sort of thing, one loses one's leap and begins to limp.  The coloring or working that one is doing is lost in the land of negative dominos.  The focus becomes on what isn't what shouldn't what ought not....Meantime, the glorious possibilities of what could be and what already is....they vanish like the LLLs paycheck after she has seen a few bright, shiny objects with her name on them.

It is my solemn vow to you that this LLL is going to avoid the negative domino game.  And, further, she is inviting you to do the same.  Sure, we will slip from time to time.....We will drive by the Mcmansion with the four garages and we will forget, for just a minute, that we were going to stay the course.  We were planning to keep the focus where it belonged...on what is good right now.   We are going to work on our own drawings...our own library, our own part in the tapestry that is our library. 

We will work towards that library with the gift shop and the atrium and the roving reference and the hands free phones and the edevices and the unlimited educational opportunities and the.......but, in the meantime, we will look at what we have.  We will watch the library users as they come in to our doors and we will give them our own wonderful brand of service.  Are you with me?

Minuteman High...keeps me leaping

The leaping libertine librarian's son goes to Minuteman High School in Lexington.  When she was there today, one of the people who run the bakery (oh, the smells!  homemade chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven, sourdough bread, brownies with chocolate icing....) was so gracious.  She was singing the praises of this fine institution.  One of the recent graduates got a full scholarship to the Culinary Institute of America and now works at the Ritz Carlton somewhere.  (Weren't they bought out by Taj or some such?)

The point is, this woman's passion for the school and all of its shops speaks volumes about the place.  The teachers there really seem to love what they are doing.  It seems that their mission is more than just a job.  There is a tone, a feeling in the building.  It seemed to the LLL that the place was humming and thrumming with excitement, careers being forged, learning....actual joy.

This is what we want in our libraries.  We, too, are shaping and forming peoples' lives.  We may be providing  a warm place to sit for one person, a job hunting workshop for another, an English language learning experience for someone else.  Sometimes, we are the ones who help to form the impression of the organization one way or the other.  Are we helpful?  Open minded?  Thrumming with excitement like the woman at Minuteman High?  If not, how can we "kindle" (no pun intended) our own spark?  What would it take?

Stand up librarian correction!

Link to her here!